JERSEY CITY – A whopping $17,375 raise was awarded to the mayor's scheduler this year as part of a round of pay hikes for hundreds of city officials that will cost taxpayers nearly $1 million.

Nancy Warlikowski, Mayor Steve Fulop's scheduler, was granted the largest raise given to any city employee. Warlikowski now has a $97,375 salary, after a $15,000 raise in August and another $2,375 hike last month.

Warlikowski, Fulop's campaign treasurer, was hired on July 1, Fulop's first day as mayor. City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill defended the raise by saying Warlikowski has taken on extra duties and a "project management" role as the mayor's office has shed staff, changes Morrill said have saved taxpayers $67,500.

A handful of other raises are about as large.

Jerry Cala, the assistant public safety director, is a few bucks behind Warlikowski. Cala was granted a $14,850 merit increase on top of a $2,474 cost-of-living hike, bringing his total salary to $101,436. Cala has been with the city for 45 years.

Four other city officials – Mark Redfield, the acting Department of Public Works director; Wendy Razzoli, assistant municipal court director and sister-in-law of former DPW chief Mike Razzoli; Brian Weller, the chief landscape architect; and attorney Stevie Chambers – each received merit increases ranging from $10,200 to $11,600, on top of cost-of-living increases.

Construction code official Ray Meyer got an $8,550 merit hike and a $2,705 cost-of-living raise, bringing his total salary to $110,886. Greg Kierce, the Office of Emergency Management chief, got a $6,120 merit increase and a $2,458 cost-of-living raise. Kierce's new salary is $100,786.

Christine Kakoleski, an administrative assistant and the business administrator's wife, got a $1,080 merit increase and a $1,288 cost-of-living hike, boosting her salary to $51,507.

The figures were provided by the city after The Jersey Journal filed a public-records request. See full list below.

Morrill said many of the employees received raises because "their responsibilities and workload changed and increased significantly."

Morrill said even with the recent raises the mayor is spending less on his staff now after departures by senior aide David Donnelly, who made $90,000, and junior aides Domenick Bauer and Steven Szupulzki, who made a total of $100,000.

"Rather than hiring new people, we are doing more with less people," Morrill said.

The city announced the plan to award raises in November, but when asked then for specific figures, Morrill said The Jersey Journal would have to file a public-records request.

Morrill herself received a $7,950 merit increase and a $2,454 cost-of-living hike, bringing her salary to $100,614.

All told, about 260 officials received either a merit raise, a cost-of-living increase or both. Almost all of those were awarded in mid-November.

The salary increases are part of the city's plan to "unfreeze" pay after years of stagnant base wages. The newest raises are mostly merit increases or 2.5 percent hikes for the city's management, some of whom have not seen raises in years as the city's unionized workers have received contractual pay increases. City officials whose positions are set by ordinance, such as the clerk, are set to receive pay hikes by the City Council tomorrow night.

Not all wages were frozen. Morrill, for example, received a total $84,278 salary in 2009, which increased to $85,930 in 2010 and then to $88,508 in 2011, city payroll records show. Her total salary before this round of pay hikes was $90,210.

This year also found the city dispensing with a policy of asking police and fire officials to agree to a one-year "pay lag" upon being promoted.

That effort began as a cost-saving movie in 2010 and continued until October, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars between then and now.

The round of 39 police promotions on Oct. 17 will cost the city about $450,000 for the first year, according to city payroll records. Promoting new Police Chief Philip Zacche on Oct. 9 cost an additional $19,000.

When The Jersey Journal initially asked Morrill how much the promotions would cost, Morrill said the newspaper would have to file a public-records request. The city's payroll department was four days late delivering the records.

"We believe that people should be compensated for the work they do. Period," Morrill said in an email. "That is the right way to do things legally and ethically and follows best practices in police departments across the country."

Bobby Kearns, president of the Jersey City Police Superior Officers Association, said the pay raises are "only fitting."

"These promotions were necessary to continue building a safer Jersey City, our members proudly took their new oaths, and it only makes sense that the these new sergeants, lieutenants, captains and deputy chiefs are compensated in a manner that is commensurate with the responsibilities and duties of their new ranks," Kearns said in a statement from the union's PR firm.